Alabama QB Hurts: ‘The narrative has already been created’

Associated Press

Updated
6:24 pm PDT, Saturday, August 4, 2018

Jalen Hurts finally got to give his own take on Alabama’s much talked about quarterback situation.

Since getting benched for the second half of the national title game in January, the two-year starter with a 26-2 record has had to remain silent publicly about the situation. Hurts was blunt in his first chance to speak with reporters since the aftermath of that game in Atlanta at Saturday’s media day.

“This whole spring ever since the game, (coaches) kind of wanted to let it play out and I guess didn’t think it was a thing to let it die down like there wasn’t something there,” Hurts said. “But that’s always been the elephant in the room. For me, no one came up to me the whole spring, coaches included, no one asked me how I felt. ... So now it’s like when we try to handle the situation now, for me, it’s kind of late, it’s too late, the narrative has already been created.”

The narrative is that he and Tua Tagovailoa are engaged in college football’s most talked about quarterback battle. Then-freshman Tagovailoa came off the bench in the second half to lift Alabama to a come-from-behind win over Georgia, heaving the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime .

Hurts’ father, Averion, said in the spring that if Hurts didn’t win the job, he’d become the “biggest free agent in college football history.”

Asked at SEC media day if Hurts would be with the team for the opener against Louisville, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said he had “no idea.”

Then he told ESPN that Hurts later came to him and said he was staying. Hurts said that’s not exactly how it went.

“I actually went to talk to him about his comments on if he didn’t know I’d be here for the first game,” Hurts said. “We had a conversation about that. I was kind of shocked that he said that. ... I told him, and I told him in June, that I’d be here.”

Next man up: USC will look to defend its Pac-12 title with a new quarterback.

Head coach Clay Helton’s effort to find a successor to Sam Darnold started in earnest when the Trojans opened practice Friday. Touted freshman JT Daniels joined redshirt sophomore Matt Fink and redshirt freshman Jack Sears in the three-man race.

“They are ready to compete. That’s really as much as I can say,” running back Aca’Cedric Ware said. “Whoever ends up the starting quarterback, I’ll be happy with.”

Darnold went 20-4 as a starter, becoming the first passer in school history to throw for 4,000 yards in a season and leading USC to its first Pac-12 championship since 2008. He was drafted third overall by the New York Jets in April after forgoing his final two seasons of eligibility.

Fink was Darnold’s backup last season, appearing in three games and rushing for a 51-yard touchdown against Oregon State. Sears is trying to fill Darnold’s shoes for the second time, having replaced him in high school in San Clemente. Daniels was the 2017 Gatorade national high school player of the year. He could become the second freshman to start a season opener for USC after reclassifying to join the Trojans early.

All three had their moments on the first day of camp. Daniels threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., but also had a pass intercepted. Sears found freshman Devon Williams for a long touchdown during 7-on-7s, and Fink was the steadiest of the trio.